9-Year-Old Boy Pays for Beggar’s Food, His Dad Gets $300K from Him for Wife’s Surgery the Next Day – Story of the Day

A kind-hearted 9-year-old boy pays for an apparently homeless man's lunch out of his pocket money and tells him all about his life and his family.

Will was a kind boy, he just couldn't help it. He brought home birds with broken wings, lost kittens, and sick puppies. Once, he even wanted to bring home a rat with a broken leg, but his mom screamed, fit to bring the house down.

Anyone who knew Will wouldn't be a bit surprised to discover that he'd spent his precious money buying food for a stranger. And money was very short around Will's house because his mom was very ill.

Will's mom was in the hospital for treatment, and his dad was doing his best to fill in for her, but he was a terrible cook. Usually, Will took leftovers to school the next day, but NOT his dad's leftovers!

He was a hardworking boy, and every weekend, he mowed his neighbors' lawns and walked a few dogs. That meant that Will had a little pocket money and didn't have to ask his mom and dad for anything.

It also meant that he could duck into the shop on his way to school and pick up a sandwich or a slice of pizza and a soda for his lunch. That is what Will usually did.

Be kind to the world, and the world will be kind to you.

On that particular day, Will was about to go into the shop when he saw a man sitting on the curb with his head in his hands. He looked terrible! His clothes were torn and he smelled like garbage.

"Sir?" Will said. "Are you OK?"

The man raised his head to look at Will, and he saw that there was an ugly cut over the man's left eye. "Please," the man whispered. "Can you get me something to drink? Some water?"

"Sure," Will said. "Have you eaten today?"

"No," the man said. "No, I haven't."

"Hold on," Will said, and he walked into the shop, fingering the money in his pocket. Did he have enough? Maybe...

Will picked out two tuna sandwiches and two bottles of water and walked to the till. His money was just enough, but it was Thursday, and he'd only get paid again on Saturday. That meant that tomorrow he would have to eat his dad's leftovers for lunch!

But Will was kind, and he shrugged and walked back to the man. He sat down next to him and handed him his sandwich and the bottle of water. "There you go," he said.

The man opened the bottle and started drinking. He sighed, wiped his mouth, and said, "Young man, thank you. You don't know what your kindness means to me."

Will blushed and shrugged. "It's OK," he said. "My mom always says we should do unto others, you know? Be kind to the world, and the world will be kind to you!"

The man laughed. "What's your name?" he asked.

"I'm Will," Will said, and he shook the man's filthy hand. "And yours?"

"I'm Allan," the man said and smiled. Will was surprised to see that he had great teeth, not like so many other homeless people he'd seen.

"You know, Will," Allan said. "Yesterday I would have laughed at someone who told me they believed in kindness to strangers."

"Why?" asked Will. "Haven't people ever been nice to you?"

"Everything I have, I fought for!" Allan said bitterly. "Everything! No one ever gave me anything... Until today."

"See?" Will said. "Now you know there is kindness in the world like my mom says."

"That is because the world has been kind to your mother," Allan commented.

Will shook his head and said quietly, "No, no it hasn't. My mom is very sick. I don't think the world has been kind at all!" That was when Will burst into tears.

Allan put his arm around Will's shoulders, and he didn't mind even though his new friend smelled terrible. "We don't have enough money," he explained. "And dad is working three jobs, but the doctors are so expensive...

"See that house with the green roof on the corner? That's my house. My dad says maybe we'll have to sell it so we can pay for mom's treatment."

"And you still bought me food?" asked Allan gently.

Will wiped his face on his sleeve. "I won't starve," he said. "And you needed it more than I do."

"Thank you, Will," Allan said quietly. "I've learned a lot from you."

Will got up and shouldered his school bag. "It's OK! Stay safe!" He went off to school, never imagining that he would see Allan ever again.

The boy was in for quite a surprise! When he got home from school the next day, there was a big expensive car parked in front of his house, and when he walked in, he found a stranger talking to his dad.

"Will," his dad said. "Your friend Allan had been waiting for you..."

Will looked at the man, and his chin dropped. He was tall, elegant, and wearing a beautiful gray suit and shiny black shoes. He didn't look a bit like a homeless beggar!

"Allan?" Will gasped. "But I thought..."

"Hello, Will," Allan said smiling. "I guess I look a little different! You see, yesterday I was mugged, and they took my wallet, my phone, and threw me in the garbage dumpster.

"I didn't look very good at all, did I?"

"You smelled bad, too!" said Will, with a child's brutal honesty.

Allan laughed and said, "I know! I had to scrub for hours before I got the stink off! But you know what? I don't mind, because I got to meet you, and you taught me a very important lesson about kindness.

"This is for you."

Allan gave Will a slip of paper with a dollar sign and lots of zeros on it. He didn't understand it, so he gave it to his dad. Will's dad turned pale. "This!" he gasped. "This is a check for $300,000!"

"Yes," Allan said. "It's to help with your wife's treatment."

Will's dad looked very shocked. "We can't accept..."

"Yes you can," Allan said firmly. "I accepted your son's kindness, and believe me, I can afford to help. And I'll still be in his debt. Your son showed me kindness when I've long stopped believing in it."

What can we learn from this story?

• Be kind to the world, and the world will be kind to you. Allan had stopped believing in kindness when he met Will, but his generosity changed his heart.
• Don't judge people by their appearance. Will thought that Allan was homeless and hungry, and so he gave him all he could. But Alan turned out to be a rich, powerful man.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a young orphaned girl who shares her food with a homeless beggar she meets on the street near her house. She's stunned when he returns in a limousine to adopt her.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone’s life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.